Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Planning Study
Neighborhood Profile The 73-block area spans Jerome Avenue from Mullaly Park north across the Cross Bronx Expressway to just south of Fordham Road. Jerome Avenue is a major transit corridor that serves the communities of Highbridge, Mount Eden, Concourse, Mount Hope, University Heights, and Morris Heights, all growing but well-established residential communities with large immigrant populations. The Jerome Avenue study area is well served by mass transit with six stations on the elevated #4 train. The B and D trains run along the Grand Concourse three blocks to the east, and several bus lines provide connections to other parts of the Bronx and Manhattan. The study incorporates key local commercial corridors including West 167th Street, West 170th Street, Burnside Avenue and Tremont Avenue.
The study area is developed primarily with low-scale commercial, industrial, and auto-related uses, but it also has some existing housing stock. Almost a hundred years ago, the heart of the area surrounding Jerome Avenue was developed as a service district to provide parking and other services to the dense residential communities that surround the area, and today includes a high number of parking facilities and auto-related uses. In most of the study area, existing zoning allows heavy commercial and light industrial uses and does not permit residential development. The study area encompasses a geography with the unique opportunity to knit together the surrounding neighborhoods of Highbridge, Morris Heights, University Heights, Mount Hope and Mount Eden.
East 167th Street, East 170th Street, Mount Eden Ave, Edward L. Grant Highway, Tremont Avenue, and Burnside Avenue are vibrant local retail corridors in the area. More than 80% of the housing stock in the surrounding area was constructed prior to 1950 and is comprised mostly of 6- 8 story apartment buildings. Vacancy rates in the area are significantly lower than the Bronx and NYC as a whole.
The 44th Police Precinct is located at E. 168th Street and Jerome Avenue. New schools recently developed in the area include the New Settlement Community Campus and the Morris Heights Educational Complex. Two charter schools are located in the area. The Jerome Avenue area has several small pocket parks and playgrounds that are well used. Mullaly Park, located to the south of the study area, is the largest park within walking distance. Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, and Bronx Community College are located just outside the study area.